(first posted 5/23/2017) The saga that was the Ford/Mercury Capri has been told many times, from its extended gestation to its disastrous birth. After it became clear that things were not going well, the range was rejigged and this Barchetta was one of the outcomes. The “full circle” part of this piece’s title refers to the name of the concept car that initiated the Capri, the Barchetta which appeared at the Frankfurt motor show in 1983. Read on to join the dots…
The Barchetta concept car was shown at the instigation of Bob Lutz who was then head of Ford of Europe and wanted to build a pure speedster-type sportscar. The numbers did not add up though, but in 1984 compromise number one came when the concept was re-cast by Lutz and Ford Asia Pacific head Alex Trotman as a slightly larger, more useable 4-seat sports car to be developed by Ford Asia Pacific and Mazda with a major market being exports to the US. Tellingly the man chosen to lead the project, Dave Fewchuck, was very sceptical about its prospects and was reluctant to take it on.
This is the 1986 convertible version of the second-generation fwd Mazda 323 Familia
The car had a rather tortured development, as design was contracted to Ital Design in Turin using the original Ghia exterior and existing Mazda 323 floorpan and mechanicals as starting points. Setback two came when the US Ford division rejected the proposed car, however Edsel Ford thought it might help revive the lagging Lincoln-Mercury division and thus the program was approved in 1985. Perhaps US readers might be able to comment on L-M dealer attitudes to selling a sports car, but I think it is safe to say that it wasn’t their forte?
Early version of the Ford Capri
The early days of development in Turin were marked by a culture clash between the animated designers from Ital Design and Ghia and the Japanese Mazda engineers who were shocked by heated arguments (or perhaps just animated discussions?) that took place in meetings. Setback three came because the extended pre-program work meant the original 323 platform was going to be replaced before the car would reach production, so existing work had to be redone around the new platform.
Australian non-airbag interior
Setback four was even bigger when a late change in policy that meant the Capri would have to incorporate airbags to meet coming US crash regulations, whereas originally vehicles already under development could remain under the existing regulations. Surely a short-sighted, penny-pinching approach and not one that would impress buyers! This cost $70 million (of a total $328m cost) due to re-doing all of the crash testing that had already been completed, and crucially delayed the launch by a year.
You could almost call it a comedy of errors, although it seems that those involve in the project might not see it that way; for example the team that had to approve the suspension setup were fans of the way the Crown Victoria drove! One thing that made it through to the final design was the convertible roof, which was supposed to be put into a channel around its lower edge in a process that really took two people to achieve properly, and was the main source of the infamous roof-leaking problems that were to plague the Capri.
A fifth major setback came with change in exchange rates between the US and Australian dollars as well as the Japanese Yen during the late 80s, which significantly increased costs and the subsequent sales price.
Through this time the Mazda MX-5 was also under development; being green-lit in 1983 and launched in February 1989. With Mazda obviously heavily involved in the Capri project there was not only awareness between the two product teams but cooperation, because their vehicles were aimed at different audiences. Plus of course Mazda would benefit from the extra volume from all the componentry incorporated in Capri.
The Capri was shown at the Chicago motor show of 1988 and had its Australian launch in April 1989 with two models; the base model with a 1.6L SOHC giving 61 kW/82 hp as well as a DOHC Turbo with 100 kW/134 hp and class-leading performance. Both came with a 5-speed transmission, and a 4-speed auto was available only on the base model. A former colleague had one of the early Turbo cars, connected to Ford’s sponsorship of the Australian Open tennis tournament, and was quite enthusiastic of its performance.
The car had a 2405 mm / 94.6” wheelbase and was 4219 mm / 166” long – almost a foot more than the MX-5. Weight was 1043 kg / 2300 lb, or 53 kg / 117 lb more than the MX-5, with the Turbo adding another 49 kg / 108 lb.
The Capri cost AUD$23,317, or $27,407 for the Turbo. This compared with the Nissan EXA (Pulsar NX in North America) at AUD$26,995 or the MX-5 at $29,995. The AUD-USD exchange rate of the day (approx US$0.77:$1AUD) does not explain the much lower price of USD$12,588 and $15,522 for the XR2, as the turbo model was known as in the US; despite shipping costs the Capri was much cheaper in the US.
Early production in the converted heavy truck Plant 2 at Broadmeadows had poor quality, and were subject to intense media scrutiny with one TV program (ABC’s “The Investigators”) showing the leaks that occurred when the car was taken through an automatic car wash. I’m not sure the Italian designers had allowed for that! Exports to the USA started in November for the 1990 model year by which time the initial bugs would theoretically be worked out.
Victorian Premier John Cain driving the first export Capri onto the ship, alongside Jac Nasser
A redesigned soft top was quickly developed, but was still not perfect. In 1992 the car was facelifted (SC model) with new XR2 and XR2 Turbo names and painted bumpers – a good move as I am not sure that many buyers would have connected the grey plastic adorning the early cars with the original Barchetta show car from 1983.
Soon after there were 200 limited edition Clubsprints built, based on the Turbo with restyled front and rear bumpers incorporating round lamps, 16” alloys, Momo steering wheel, blue leather seats and a humped “capote” cover over the rear seats similar to the old 1962 Thunderbird Sports Roadster. Performance improvements included a modified suspension setup and the low-profile Michelin tyres. The Clubsprint returned with the next facelift, but without the leather seats.
Our featured Barchetta was introduced to lower the cost of entry to the Capri range, doing without such niceties as alloy wheels but with a typical early-nineties graphic on the sides to add some pizzazz. But only 1034 Capris were sold in Australia in 1992, and only 9000 were sent to the USA.
There was final SE facelift in 1993; still no sheetmetal change, but new tail lights at least! A 1994 model year car was launched in the USA with dual airbags (before any locally-sold cars had this). According to Jac Nasser in 1992, due to the extra development costs it would “almost have to run its full cycle (ie to 1996) to break even”. Mind you at that time Ford was still talking up the likelihood of a second generation car, but sales continued to deteriorate and production ceased in 1994 after 66,382 Capris had been built. Of these, 55,808 were sent to the US, 9,787 were sold in Australia as well as 440 exports to New Zealand and a further 120 cars sent to Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand. Both the first and last car off the production line remain with Ford.
In summary it would seem that Dave Fewchuck’s initial scepticism as to the merits of the project he was asked to lead were well-founded. Given the strong reaction in Europe to the original concept car perhaps it might have resonated in global markets had it been introduced before the emergence of competitive Japanese models (CR-X, MR-2 and MX-5); it wasn’t the first car that missed its window of opportunity, and no doubt it won’t be the last. Unfortunately it represented a loss, including Ford Australia’s reputation both with the public and Ford in Dearborn.
Further Reading:
Curbside Classic: 1989-94 Ford/Mercury Capri – Unfashionably Late
Curbside Classic: 1991 Mercury Capri – Birds Of A Feather
Ah yes, the Crappi. Made a lot of money off those turds, they were a warranty gold mine. Not as good as ’88-’94 Continentals but pretty close 🙂 .
I just couldn’t get over the Grand Marquis air bag steering wheel they installed on the US Capri. It was almost as bad as the Firebird wheel they put on the Lotus Elan.
My 93 had been seriously abused by the previous owner, horrible treatment I witnessed myself. Once I took possession, I was amazed at what soap, water, fresh fluids and a new top could do for an old car. 3+ years of trouble-free driving, and never leaked through all those drive-through car washes! Quirky and odd, the best feature was surely the dohc Mazda 4, as the rest of the car seemed to be pieced out of a world wide parts bin!
I actually passed one of these yesterday with a FOR SALE sign taped to the side window.
I always liked these cars (as I’m a huge Ford fan) but even I found some of their flaws difficult to take. The styling, for example, looks a bit “off”. The front is pointy to the extent it looks a bit sharpened while the rest of the car looks blobby. And the car looks like it needs to be raised a bit, with or without taller/bigger wheels/tires.
It’s a shame so many different “obstacles” blocked it’s development.
Thanks for all the history on this vehicle. As one who likes a larger vehicle, I always looked at them as amusing. Does anyone have anything to say about the Merkur line that was sold in the U.S.? The 2-door coupe was ugly, ugly, ugly. The four-door appeared to be an overpriced Mercury Sable by $8,000.00. Where have all the Merkurs gone, long time passing? I hope that one of the CC group is knowledgeable to give us a good treatise on this.
T.M.
If you do a search of this website you will find about 5 or 6 excellent articles have already been posted here about the Scorpio, I didn’t look but would imagine that the XR4Ti has been fully covered, too.
I got a new 1993 on July 2, 1993. I had it as a third car until 2000. A shift rod broke, and an interior door handle broke. That was it. One set of tires and no brakes. I’m 6’3″ with a long spine. I fit with the seat at its lowest poition.
Years before i had 2 Triumph Spitfires. I compare the Capri to them, as it was not fast, but it was cheap and fun. I drove it in Ohio winters and the heating and defrosting was fine. The AC worked well.
I don’t remember the exact lease payment, but it was cheap. The dealer had a large dicount, and the factory had a cheap money rate. After three years, I bought it and kept on for 4 more years. Cheap to buy and cheap to keep.
As I was reading I was racking my memory as to when I last saw one here, There are a few Mazda 323 drop tops around and I was offered a Ford version drop top last year for $100 but Capris are very scarce and I live in a sunny part of the country, no doubt I’ll see one today.
Forgot the picture, running on three and a shredded roof and 300kms from home yeah nar not worth it
My sister’s neighbor had one of these, a ’92 if I recall correctly. She ran the wheels of that car and enjoyed it the entire time — put almost 200K miles on it before selling it. I don’t ever recall her complaining about reliability, even though her daily commute was about 70 miles each way.
Mechanically they were fine just a 323 Mazda it was water leaks and build quality that let them down and being late to market.
I bought a 1989 model hasn’t missed a beat since I bought it two years ago .Great little runabout especially in the summer my wife keeps telling me to get rid of it , but I like it . I only payed a grand for it and I never really had to spend much on it to put it on the road rego a couple of tyres and roadworthy.
Great piece, John. I think “Barchetta” might have actually been a great model name, by itself, though “Mercury Barchetta” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. 🙂
Then these first came out, I was in high school and, initially, the angular, slab-sided styling looked good to me. The look seemed almost not unlike a taller, stubbier, four-seat Pontiac Fiero.
Fiat used the Barchetta name, of course from 1995-2005, for exactly this type of car.
I saw a couple in NZ earlier this year, lookng a bit tired but still quite appealing, but hard to see it winning over a Miata/MX-5 driver.
That’s the thing, they weren’t supposed to compete with an MX5 but rather being a cross between that and a standard hatchback-based convertible, and were much cheaper. If it wasn’t for being released at basically the same time I don’t think the comparison and overshadowing would have been so bad.
Maybe if they’d altered the brand name to Mercurio? After the famous Australian actor Gus, of course….. 😉 Mercurio Barchetta has a ring to it. Or maybe more of a clang.
I was quite interested in these when they came out. I had driven an early 81 Escort a few times, and was near the midpoint of a very satisfactory 12 year ownership of a Mazda GLC, so in my book, the more Mazda and less Ford the better. Never really taken by the styling, but it was an improvement over a TR-7. Financial situation at the time said it was a no-go, and I carried a deep, deep hate for the local Merc dealer. Have not seen one around metro Detroit in years. Don’t see much of anything 20 years old around here as cars live hard and die young in this environment, so this is another one that got away from me.
I’ve owned two and now only one since the nineties, the 1994 XR2 SE Turbo. Like anything, if you look after it, it will last. It’s a beautiful car, always reliable, runs perfectly and I’ll keep it. It has full electrics and cruise control. About 12 years ago I got a cloth soft top from the US for around $300 to replace the stock vinyl roof and it has lasted and still looks new. But I wouldn’t take it through an auto car wash, it’s a soft top and you need to fold the roof correctly and look after the back window, it’s not hard. The car just takes some due care but it’s easy to maintain and upgrade some of the parts to make the car even better. Would be good if Ford released the blueprints to some of the parts so I could get more non-genuine parts as they can be difficult to find. I love it and always will!
You’ve featured my car in your article and I wondered how much my car is worth?
It’s the top picture, Ford Capri Barchetta.
Great cars, i have owned two, a 1989 turbo and for the last 21 years a 1993 xr2 twin cam auto. very reliable, in fact i have also owned a 2002 Mercedes SL55 and it was not reliable at all, lots of issues, costly to fix. Love the Capri!
Three years in the busiest New Zealand city and I still cant recall seeing one those 400 odd imports seem to have vanished mind you the equivalent Mazda 323s are quite scarce now boy racers found them and thrashed them to death even the thousands of ex JDM Familias are not seen now in traffic being driven,
Another product from Mazda-Ford friendship, like the Telstar and Laser.
Does anyone know what price one of these would go for if selling second hand?